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Wanda was supposed to be dead. That was all she knew. She was supposed to be dead.
But she wasn’t.
Instead, she was stumbling aimlessly through the snow. Lost, confused, and so, so cold.
She had obviously transported herself far enough away from the collapsing mountain, but did not have the energy, or maybe simply not the inclination, to go much further.
She continued to trudge onward through the swirling snow, pulling her cloak more tightly around herself, though it provided precious little relief from the bitter cold.
Wanda felt half frozen, her limbs seizing up. She could hardly see in front of her for the snow, or the constant flow of tears freezing on her face. She trudged and stumbled, until she could trudge no more, her legs finally giving out.
She lay there, waiting for the end, for the bitter cold to claim her.
Her mind grew hazy as her body weakened, but Wanda thought she almost heard footsteps crunching in the snow beside her, saw a flash of blue eyes.
Was she dying? Had Pietro come for her?
No. No.. They were more like Vision’s eyes.
–
Everything was a blur. Wanda did not have the strength to open her eyes, but she remembered things.., heard things, felt things.
Someone changing her clothes, tucking blankets around her.
The crackle of an open fire.
Warm liquid being poured down her throat.. Thin soups, or her favorite teas.
A strangely familiar hand holding her own, and, for some reason, massaging her fingertips.
That was the feeling that Wanda eventually woke to, but when she opened her eyes to find that the person holding her hand was the bleached-white Vision who had attacked her in Westview, she jumped, startled, and jerked her hand away, eyes glowing red.
“W-What are you doing? Where am I?”
“I found you” the White Vision replied. “You clearly needed help.”
“Why would you help me when you wanted to kill me?”
He flinched slightly at Wanda’s words, though he didn’t begrudge her saying them.
“I never wanted to kill you, Wanda.. That was Hayward’s programming.”
“That doesn’t answer my question” Wanda frowned, still nervous, untrusting. “Why?”
“You would have frozen to death if I hadn’t” Vision told her. “I brought you here, and I’ve tried to keep you warm.. Although I am worried about your fingers. I’ve tried to get the circulation going, and stave of the frostbite, but..”
“That’s not frostbite” Wanda mumbled, withdrawing her hand further. “It’s corruption, from dark magic.. You should have left me to freeze..”
“I couldn’t..”
“You should have” Wanda repeated. “I’m not the Wanda you knew. I hurt people, I killed people..”
“I know. I passed over Kamar-Taj on my way to you.”
“Then why?!” Wanda snapped.
“You can’t go through everything that you and I have and then pretend you don’t already know the answer to that question” Vision replied quietly, an edge of sadness to his voice.
A lump suddenly formed in Wanda’s throat, and she found herself wanting to apologize, but before she could, Vision was standing, facing away from her.
“W-Where are you going?”
“To make food” said Vision. “You can have something more substantial now that you are awake. Feel free to get up and walk around a bit, if you feel up to it..”
“Walk around where?”
“My..” Vision paused, his brow furrowed. He’d been about to say ‘Home’, but that didn’t feel quite right. “ A place I’ve been staying for a while. You will be safe here, I promise.”
“Okay..”
—
Wanda didn’t feel like she could or should really trust anyone, after everything that she had done, and yet, for reasons known only to her heart, she trusted Vision, believing him when he promised that she was safe.
Despite this, it took her a while after he had left the room to muster the energy to do so herself. As she stood, she realized that she was dressed in an oversized blue sweater that she recognised as having once been Vision’s, the sleeves rolled up to keep them from engulfing her hands, and pajama bottoms she thought might have belonged to Natasha once. She had no idea where he would have gotten either of these things, and tried not to dwell on, or be embarrassed by, the fact that Vision had undressed her.
Wanda headed out into the rest of the house, seeing the fireplace she had heard earlier, a lounge set, a television.. And then she found a shelf, a few knick-knacks upon it, among them something she recognised.. A Malcolm In The Middle DVD box set, that had once been hers. As Wanda picked it up, she noticed that half of the cover was missing, along with two of the discs, and those that remained were either broken or scratched beyond repair.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Wanda turned, finding Vision holding a bowl of what looked like some sort of stew.
“You kept this?” she asked, holding up the box set.
“Yes” Vision nodded. “I tried going back to the compound, after Westview..”
“Thanos destroyed it..”
“I know that now.. but, I salvaged a few things from the wreckage..”
“Why this?” Wanda was confused. “It’s all broken..”
“Well, yes” said Vision. “But sometimes, even something broken may have pleasant memories attached..”
Wanda was briefly lost in a memory of her own, of her bedroom in the compound, and him, and the very DVD set she held in her hands.. but that was all gone now, all of it. The compound was in ruins, the DVDs were destroyed, and she and Vision..
She placed the broken set back on the shelf.
“Sometimes broken things just need to be thrown away..”
“Oh.. I um.. I suppose that’s true..” Something in Vision’s new, pure white facade seemed to snap, and in that moment, he seemed more himself than he had been since the moments before his death.. And he was hurting.
“Vizh..” The lump in Wanda’s throat returned. She wasn’t sure what part of what she had said hurt him so badly, but she definitely had not intended it.
“You need to eat..” Vision thrust the bowl of stew into her hands, then turned, fleeing from the house. “I just.. I need a moment..”
Wanda stared after him for a moment, slightly stunned, unsure what to do. After all she had done, the Monster she had become, she was probably the last person who should be offering help to someone in distress.. But whether she could actually be of help or not, she couldn’t leave Vision upset, not after all the times he had tried so hard to help her.
And if this still all turned out to be some sort of cruel trick?
Well, Wanda could go out believing she had at least tried to do something good.
–
Wanda headed outside. The House seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, much like her false cabin and orchard. Looking around, she saw Vision sitting beneath a nearby tree, gazing into the distance.
“Vision..” she asked quietly, “Are you okay?”
“Just thinking about how I shouldn’t be here.”
“Why?” She took a few steps closer.
“Nobody was supposed to bring me back. It is like you said, Wanda.. sometimes broken things should just be thrown away..” Vision phased, but just his suit, allowing Wanda to see the scars of his reassembly.
“I didn’t mean you!” Wanda cried, her eyes widening, horrified with herself. “You’re not just some thing, you’re a person.”
“Except that I am not, am I?” Vision continued sadly. “I tried to be, and I was a very good imitation of one for a while, if I say so myself.. but a true human’s will and memories are not so easily squashed by a piece of programming.”
“Oh yeah?” Wanda retorted. “Tell that to Bucky Barnes, or the Black Widows, or anyone who’s mind I ever messed around with. What happened in Westview.. it wasn’t your fault, I understand that, and it doesn’t make you any less of a person. Synthetic, maybe, but still a person..”
“That..” He looked up at her for a moment, and she thought he might have been crying, “That is very kind of you to say, Wanda.”
“It’s just the truth. You can’t let one incident that wasn’t even your fault ruin everything for you, Vizh.. there’s still hope for you. You can still do good things for the world.”
“So can you.”
“Oh no” Wanda chuckled darkly, and yet Vision couldn’t help his heart fluttering at the sound. “I’m way too far gone. I’m a monster. I caused so much damage, to Kamar-Taj, to that other universe..”
“But that’s not really your fault either, is it?” Vision mused. “Not entirely.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Same logic you just used on me. Hayward’s programming means Westview wasn’t my fault, so the corruption from your evil book..”
“That’s different..”
“How so?” Vision tilted his head, a strange innocence to his question.
“I.. well.. It just is!” Wanda huffed, flopping down to sit beside him. “I ruin everything, I’m nothing but trouble.”
They were both quiet for a while, but it was a strangely comfortable silence, all things considered. When Vision eventually did speak, neither one of them was entirely sure how much time had passed.
“You don’t ruin everything.”
“Vizh..” She sighed.
“You don’t” Vision repeated firmly. “There are not many things I am certain of anymore, but one of the few I know for sure is that my life was infinitely better whenever you were a part of it.”
Wanda looked at him for a moment, trying to find some sign of a lie, because she knew the finer details of his face well enough that she had always been able to tell.. But she saw none.
“Thank you..” She replied eventually. “I know you didn’t want to be brought back, and I understand why.. But for whatever my opinion is worth, and I know it is probably not much anymore.. I’m glad you’re alive.”
“On the contrary, Wanda, your opinion has always meant a lot to me, and still does” Vision smiled then, the kind of smile that made Wanda’s breath catch, because it was the smile he kept just for her.
“I-It does?”
“Mhmm. You know, this house was supposed to be for you?”
“Really?”
“Yes. I thought, after Westview, you might find yourself needing a safe place” Vision explained. “And I thought you might come looking for me, eventually, even if it was just to end me.. So I thought I’d make sure you had that safe space first. This could still be that for you, if you like.”
“I’m not sure I deserve one..” Wanda frowned.
“It’s here either way. I don’t even have to stay, I could..”
“No” Without thinking about it, Wanda shuffled closer, grabbing Vision's hand. “You can.. You should stay.”
“Oh?”
“I.. I don’t think it’s safe for me to be on my own” Wanda tried to explain. “When I’m by myself, when I get too stuck in my own head.. That’s when the bad things happen. So I need.. A Minder? No that doesn’t sound right.. A keeper? No..”
“An E.S.S?” Vision suggested.
“What?” Wanda frowned, confused.
“E.S.S” Vision repeated, a slight smirk curling his lips. “Emotional Support Synthezoid.”
Wanda stared at him, for a minute, maybe two, before her own lips curled upwards in a smile, a sparkle coming to her eyes, and then she laughed, not the dark chuckle of earlier, but true, joyous laughter, her head dropping onto Vision’s shoulder. No-one else ever saw how funny he could be.. Another part of him that had been kept just for her.
“Okay, that works.”
Vision knew this wasn’t a quick fix, that a single moment of joy wasn’t enough to fix all of her broken parts, or his. But as he looked down at their joined hands, seeing the darkness already beginning to recede from her fingers, he knew it was a good start.
“Yes..” He smiled. “It works.”